1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to enclosures for domestic fowl to encourage the laying of eggs and more particularly to a new and improved automatic enclosure nest for domestic fowl that includes improved automatic controls for controlling the entrance and exit of fowl to and from the nest and for controlling the retrieval of eggs laid by the fowl from the nest.
2. Related Art
Various types of enclosure devices developed to encourage the laying of eggs by domestic fowl are known in the prior art. These include devices such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,021 (hereinafter the "'021 patent"), which shows an enclosure nest having a frame with side partitions and continuous joining rails that cooperatively form the enclosure nest and having a fowl entry and exit end and an egg removal end wherein the floor within the nest is movable from an inclined position assumed when the nest is empty to a substantially level position when the fowl enters the nest.
The prior art enclosure nests have had the inherent disadvantages of failing to provide for a means to gently remove the fowl from the nest when desired and of failing to provide an automatic method for resetting a trap mechanism that allows the fowl entry to the nest when the nest is empty and closes behind the fowl when it enters the nest to prevent fowl entry as long as the nest is occupied.